LIVERPOOL -- James Milner is Liverpool's new vice-captain, manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed.
The England international, 29, has taken on the job after Jordan Henderson moved up to the captaincy role.
Milner joined the Reds on a free transfer after being released by Manchester City at the end of last season.
Martin Skrtel and Lucas Leiva were also contenders for the role, but manager Brendan Rodgers said that he has long been a fan of Milner.
The manager said: "James will be the vice captain. He will be a great ally for Jordan. He leads by example. He's a wonderful footballer with a big personality in the dressing room.
"James is someone I admired from the outside for a long time. He has played at this level since he was 16 years of age.
"He went to Manchester City and did a great job there. When there was a possibility he might be available, I was surprised but I was hoping I could get him to come here.
"He's the type of player who gives everything. His talent has probably gone under the radar.
"He works tirelessly at his game. He's in here at 7:45 a.m. in the morning making sure he's prepared for training. He's getting all his food supplements correct. That's two-and-a-half hours before we train.
"He gives his maximum in his work and prepares himself like an elite player should. He has big character and I felt we needed that in the team."
Rodgers said there was no update on the future of Mario Balotelli, who has attracted attention from a number of Italian clubs.
Balotelli is only 12 months into a three-year contract at Liverpool, having arrived from AC Milan for £16 million last August.
But he has been told he has no future at Anfield as Rodgers seeks to reshape his squad.
The manager said: "There's nothing on Mario. In terms of players that are here, we have worked with the squad over pre-season and every player knows where they stand in terms of the squad.
"It's unfair to talk about any individual player. Any conversation we've had is private."
Rodgers says he is relishing the chance to lay the ghost of last May's 6-1 humiliation at Stoke -- Liverpool's heaviest defeat in 52 years.
"I feel we couldn't have had a better fixture. It's the perfect fixture to go away to Stoke," he said. "We'll certainly be better than we were there last season, that's for sure.
"It was a one-off game in whole experience - we lacked every aspect of our high class football. It was something that was surprising and very disappointing.
"We'll look to return to the levels we had here, and fight to produce our game."